Monday, April 26, 2010

No matter if you're a fan or hate her guts you'd have to be blind or very dumb to not realize Sarah Palin got savaged by the media in a way that was almost criminal and President Obama got an absolute pass to insure he got into the White House. I mean come on, you have toknow that- may even think (or thought) it was the right thing for the country.

Headline: "Obama unveils revised 1 trillion dollar health plan. " Call me crazy, but we're broke, drowning in debts our grandchildren will have to pay off and I just can't get past that 1 trillion dollar figure. Where did that number come from anyway? Was it invented for lunatic politicians?

Odd feeling of d'e'javu at a recent patients home. It was so deep and overwhelming it was nearly troubling. Took me a while, but I realized had looked at same house years ago while considering its purchase.

Patient last nights family: five smokers, five cats and five dogs.

The Rule Of Fives- the sure way to promote misery and agony in your nurse.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

1921. "Margaret Gorman in Birmingham car." Whose reptilian body has an alligator finish. In 1921 Margaret was both the first Miss Washington, D.C., and the first Miss America. View full size National Photo Company glass negative.

The Birmingham (1921-1923) was a 55 hp Continental-engined six on a 124-inch wheelbase with standard components used throughout but a most unusual flexible suspension system. Three transverse springs and an independent rear axle were combined with two transverse springs in front that made for a four-wheel independent suspension and the "easiest riding car ever put on the market," as advertising said. Alas, getting the Birmingham on the market was the hard part.Because the suspension system was similar to that which had appeared on the Cornelian built by the Blood Brothers in Kalamazoo, Cyrus E. Weaver, was the designer of the Birmingham. The first Birmingham prototype sedan was completed and tested in Detroit in May of 1921. The mayor of Jamestown, Samuel A. Carlson, agreed to serve as president of Birmingham Motors Corporation, accepting no salary for the position. Because he believed Birmingham would do for Jamestown what Ford had done for Detroit, Carlson asked only for out-of-pocket expenses for promoting this new industry for his community.Demonstrations of the new Birmingham were set up in numerous towns in Upstate New York and elsewhere, with an office opened in each for the sale of stock. Five cars were assembled in nearby Falconer by early 1922, these joined the two further cars previously put together in Detroit, and this fleet of demonstrators had soon hit as many as 50 cities. One of them was New York City for the National Automobile Show in January 1922. But Mayor Carlson soon fell victim to his political enemies. Already a defamatory article about the company had appeared in the stock market publication, U.S. Investor.Initially it was thought this malicious piece of journalism could be turned to Birmingham's advantage. But in August 1922 the AP wire service buzzed with the news that a Federal grand jury in Washington had filed a presentment following a 10-month investigation by the U.S. Post Office. The charge was fraudulent use of the mails to sell more than $300,000 of worthless stock, and among the 18 Birmingham men named was Mayor Samuel Carlson. Newspapers not friendly to Carlson had a heyday.During the next two months Birmingham assembled 26 cars and chassis to prove its viability. But a stock holders meeting in October ended in bedlam, with one local stock salesman stabbed to death. A Birmingham official smashed his way through a plate- glass window to escape. In June of 1923, the indictment against Birmingham officials was dismissed in court. But the exoneration came far too late for Birmingham Motors. In December mortgage foreclosure arrived. In 1924 there was an attempt to revive the Birmingham as a new car to be called the Wright for the Canadian market.This plan fell apart quickly. As many as 50 Birminghams may have been built during the contentious short life of the company. None of the cars are believed to exist today.Samuel A. Carlson was Mayor of Jamestown, N.Y. in 1909-10, 1916, 1933-37.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Been trapped behind enemy lines while my foes beset me on all fronts. The posts that have come up recently have been scheduled forever. More soon and best wishes to all and take care. What I'm listening to So Cold by Breaking Benjamin- a great song.Recently had some of the most unbelievable patients; one lived 52 days- I cared for her for 40 of them. At the end was tired and fairly spent, but OK. Also took care of the most demanding (emotionally, mentally and physically) patient that could be imagined. I cared for her one night and was absolutely, definitively exhausted.More on them another time- again, take care.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

"WORCESTER, MA–A study released Monday by the Institute For Statistical-Data Quantification brings to light "disturbing" new findings regarding the distribution of wealth in America, asserting that "a real, demonstrable economic gap exists between the nation's upper class and lower class, with the monied elite enjoying significantly greater overall wealth than their poorer counterparts."

American Focus"These numbers paint a sobering picture for the American working poor," said Institute co-chair Mary Ellen Armbrister, one of the chief coordinators of the eight-year, $7 million research initiative. "The data we've collected clearly illustrates that our nation's economic system is biased against the low-income sector of society. This bias is evident in a wide range of economic indices–from overall earnings to yearly net gains to discretionary household spending–and holds true regardless of a person's age, racial background, gender, or geographic location. Across the board, this disparity appears to be universal.""This nation's rich appear to enjoy a considerable, unfair economic advantage over their less wealthy counterparts, consistently outearning the working poor in nearly every case," Armbrister said. "Unless something changes, rich people will continue to have more money than the poor."Among the study's disturbing findings: In all cases in which a poor person was compared to a corresponding wealthy person of double his or her economic standing, the richer person had 200 percent more financial assets. The rich were also found to spend more than the poor on everything from education to housing, and enjoyed significantly more Caribbean vacations than those who could not afford them.According to the study, of the 1,794 Ferrari Testarossas sold in the U.S. between January 1992 and January 2000, 1,794 were purchased by the rich. Conversely, of the 3,589 used 1974 AMC Gremlins sold during that same period, 3,589 were purchased by the poor. Additionally, ownership of traditionally "rich" luxury items–including sterling-silver tea sets, antique Persian rugs, and priceless collectible art–is a whopping 48,000 percent less common among the poor than the wealthy. Most alarming, a full 100 percent of the 1,200 British butlers currently working in the U.S. are under the employ of individuals living above the poverty line.The study is expected have a significant impact on the way everyone from policy-makers in Washington to members of the working class thinks about poverty in America.The Income Gap"For years, our society has fostered a dangerous stereotype, labeling poor people as 'lower-class' just because they don't have any money," said Yale University sociology chair Dr. Noam Reedy. "But if this report's findings are accurate, the reality is just the reverse: They have no money because they are in a lower economic strata."Daniel Ruthven, director of the American Enterprise Institute, disagreed. "It is misguided to say that the poor have no money due to their disadvantaged status. Clearly, if they did possess capital resources commensurate with those of the wealthy, they would no longer be, strictly speaking, 'poor.'"Armbrister stressed that it would be premature to draw any final conclusions from the 550-page report, cautioning that "much supplementary research must still be done.""Yes, we do need more data," she said. "But regardless, it is apparent that a severe gulf exists between rich and poor. And this cannot be mere coincidence. There is clearly an unknown mitigating factor at work here, and I strongly suspect it may be financial in nature.""The study's implications are clear," Armbrister continued. "We as a society can no longer sit on our hands. Something must be done. Now more than ever, we need greater funding for this ongoing research effort, so that one day we can somehow make sense of the sobering economic chasm separating the monied and unmonied classes in America today." theonion.com

Monday, April 5, 2010

A headline concerning elderly gentleman getting to be batboy for a pro baseball game: "Batboy is 100 years old." My first thoughts? Batman and Robin are 100, that's not possible is it? Wait, are they being mean to Batman or snide toward Robin?

"We make dogs into people. America is dog heaven for some dogs"jigga what jigga who

Don't know why, I like that quote though.

The above pic. makes me think of a friend who go in some trouble when he hired a plane to take up a bunch of flyers and coupons announcing his new business in Decatur TX. That was at least 25 years ago- need to ask if he still remembers that.

Saw a lady out shopping when I was looking for books one day who had to be in her late 60s who had a tattoo on one of her outer legs.

Also saw a woman who had her ear pierced at the top and the ornamental part of her earring between her scalp and back of her ear. It looked kind of cool.

I hope it was intentional

I saw a girl once who had the little divit in the front of the ear opening (whatever that's called) pierced- that looked really cool.

While it can be overdone I like tattoos and piercings on women.

About a year ago there was a lot of coverage of a very well preserved baby mammoth. A woolly mammoth will be the first prehistoric animal cloned and an elephant will carry the fetus.

You may not have read that one here first.

I can't wait though 'til they get the first T-Rex cloned!

And the smarty pants scientists learn where the dragon legends came from when that thing goes berserk and incinerates everything in sight.